During subterranean drilling and completion operations, a pipe or other conduit is lowered into a borehole in an earth formation during or after drilling operations. Such pipes are generally configured as multiple pipe segments to form a “string”, such as a drill string or production string. As the string is lowered into the borehole, additional pipe segments are coupled to the string by various connection mechanisms, such as threaded couplings.
Various power and/or communication signals may be transmitted through the pipe segments via a “wired pipe” configuration. Such configurations include electrical, optical or other conductors extending along the length of selected pipe segments or string segments. The conductors are operably connected between pipe segments by a variety of configurations.
One such configuration includes a threaded male-female configuration often referred to as a pin box connection. The pin box connection includes a male member, i.e., a “pin end” that includes an exterior threaded portion, and a female member, i.e., a “box end”, that includes an interior threaded portion and is configured to receive the pin in a threaded connection.
Some wired pipe configurations include a transmission device mounted on the tip of the pin end as well as in the box end. The transmission device, or “coupler,” can transmit power, data or both to an adjacent coupler. The coupler in the pin end is typically connected via a coaxial cable or other means to the coupler in the box end. In such cases, if the transmission lines are slack in the pipe segment, they may be damaged by fluids and debris flowing through the pipe segment.